LAUSANNE—Former world boxing champion, T&T boxer Ria Ramnarine was one of eight coaches to graduate with honours distinction when the International Coaching Enrichment Certification Programme honoured its class of 2015 in a ceremony held at the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, yesterday.
In addition to Ramnarine, the other coaches were Marcello Varriale from Brazil; Maria Victora Echavarria from Colombia; Stewart Velasco from El Salvador; Nigatu Worku Angasu from Ethiopia; Shiba Maggon from India; Eyyad Maghayreh from Jordan; and Yang Yu from the USA. The seventh edition of the ICECP—an intensive coaching education programme developed by the United States Olympic Committee, the University of Delaware and the IOC—included 33 coaches representing five continents, 33 countries and 14 sports.
The ICECP is conducted in partnership with Olympic Solidarity, an IOC program that provides financial assistance to National Olympic Committees around the world. Thus far, the ICECP has reached 198 participants from 23 sports and 87 countries over the seven-year history of the programme.
“Congratulations to the newest class of ICECP graduates,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun. “These coaches represent the future of the Olympic Movement, and their commitment to developing their personal skillset and advancing the global sports community is admirable.” Held at the University of Delaware; the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado; apprenticeship sites around the US; and the IOC headquarters, the ICECP began at the University of Delaware on September 20 and was conducted in four modules.
In the final module, participants presented the projects they completed over the course of the programme—which focused on improving coaching infrastructure in their home countries — to the ICECP academic board, and took part in a formal graduation ceremony featuring a keynote address by IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell and Simon Toulson, secretary general of the International Canoe Federation.
“It was a true honour to work with the USOC to put on a world-class program,me” said Dr Matthew Robinson, director of the ICECP and professor of sport management at the University of Delaware.
“The participants’ efforts were inspirational and I know all of them will make important contributions to their sport and the Olympic Movement for years to come. We look forward to year eight next year and passing the 200 participant mark. I am humbled to work with so many passionate people who contribute to the success of the programme.”
“Participation in the ICECP was an amazing experience,” said Marcello Varriale, a 2015 graduate from Brazil. “The content I learned at the University of Delaware and from the USOC staff was invaluable. The difference of the ICECP from other programmes is the sharing and learning from different countries and sports, and being able toa pply these ideas to my sport of rowing. In implementing my project, I discovered the importance of having a structured program. With that, I was able to develop coaching education in a structured manner to benefit the coaches in my sport and country.”
The 2014-15 programme included coaches from American Samoa, Austria, Antigua and Barbuda, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, People’s Republic of China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Fiji, Grenada, India, Jordan, Latvia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mozambique, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Serbia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Syria, T&T, USA and Uganda.